The Holy Discipline of Silence

A good treatment on silence by Mark Driscoll. He is rediscovering a wise tradition which has run through the church for hundreds of years, particularly in the Catholic/Orthodox stream. I like the way he expresses his goals and practices:

Since God convicted me of my addiction to noise, I have sought to conform my life more to the pattern of Jesus’, which has proven quite helpful. I try to spend at least five minutes an hour in silence, at least thirty minutes in uninterrupted silence each day, and a full day in silence once a month. During those times I find myself going for silent prayer walks to listen to God, writing in my journal, and sometimes doing nothing at all, which for me has become an act of faith that God is at work even when I am not.

This is a guy with a wife, five kids and a huge church who writes and travels extensively. Something to which it is worth aspiring methinks; the silence, I mean. Especially for those of us in full time parish ministry.

The rest (no pun intended) is over at Resurgence here.